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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 469 records · Page 26
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1978

Particle impact tests

Particle impact tests were performed on three types of orbiter surface with a micrometeoroid facility. The test equipment electrostatically accelerated micron sized particles to high velocities simulating micrometeoroid impacts. Test particles were titanium diboride with typical velocities in the range 1 to 2.3 km x sec/1 and equivalent particle diameters in the range 4 to 16 microns. Impact angles to the material surface were 90, 60 and 30 degrees. The particle impact sites were located on the sample surfaces and craters were photographed with a magnification of 400X.

Komatsu, G. K.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Mars Rover Sample Return mission delivery and return challenges

The Mars Rover Sample Return mission is a robotic exploration mission culminating in the return of atmospheric and surface samples from Mars to Earth. To accomplish this complex mission requires sophisticated autonomous systems for many time-critical operations associated with the delivery and return phases, since the round trip light times preclude Earth-based control of these operations. In addition, there are significant engineering and technology challenges to be addressed to meet the mission science and exploration objectives.

Cohen, Aaron↗
DOE OSTI2012

Effects of Contact Angle Hysteresis on Ice Adhesion and Growth over Superhydrophobic Surfaces under Dynamic Flow Conditions

In this paper, the iceophobic properties of superhydrophobic surfaces are investigated under dynamic flow conditions by using a closed loop low-temperature wind tunnel. Superhydrophobic surfaces were prepared by coating the substrates of aluminum and steel plates with nano-structured hydrophobic particles. The superhydrophobic plates along with uncoated control ones were exposed to an air flow of 12 m/s and 20 F accompanying micron-sized water droplets in the icing wind tunnel and the ice formation and accretion were probed by high-resolution CCD cameras. Results show that the superhydrophobic coatings significantly delay the ice formation and accretion even under the dynamic flow condition of the highly energetic impingement of accelerated super-cooled water droplets. It is found that there is a time scale for this phenomenon (delay of the ice formation) which has a clear correlation with the contact angle hysteresis and the length scale of surface roughness of the superhydrophobic surface samples, being the highest for the plate with the lowest contact angle hysteresis and finer surface roughness. The results suggest that the key parameter for designing iceophobic surfaces is to retain a low contact angle hysteresis (dynamic property) and the non-wetting superhydrophobic state under the hydrodynamic pressure of impinging droplets, rather than to only have a high contact angle (static property), in order to result in efficient anti-icing properties under dynamic conditions such as forced flows.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1972

Microphysical, microchemical and adhesive properties of lunar material. 3: Gas interaction with lunar material

Knowledge of the reactivity of lunar material surfaces is important for understanding the effects of the lunar or space environment upon this material, particularly its nature, behavior and exposure history in comparison to terrestrial materials. Adsorptive properties are one of the important techniques for such studies. Gas adsorption measurements were made on an Apollo 12 ultrahigh vacuum-stored sample and Apollo 14 and 15 N2-stored samples. Surface area measurements were made on the latter two. Adsorbate gases used were N2, A, O2 and H2O. Krypton was used for the surface area determinations. Runs were made at room and liquid nitrogen temperature in volumetric and gravimetric systems. It was found that the adsorptive/desorptive behavior was in general significantly different from that of terrestrial materials of similar type and form. Specifically (1) the UHV-stored sample exhibited very high initial adsorption indicative of high surface reactivity, and (2) the N2-stored samples at room and liquid nitrogen temperatures showed that more gas was desorbed than introduced during adsorption, indicative of gas release from the samples. The high reactivity is a scribed cosmic ray track and solar wind damage.

Grossman, J. J.↗
DOE OSTI2012

Atomic force microscopy applied to the quantification of nano-precipitates in thermo-mechanically treated microalloyed steels

Quantification of nanometer-size precipitates in microalloyed steels has been traditionally performed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), in spite of its complicated sample preparation procedures, prone to preparation errors and sample perturbation. In contrast to TEM procedures, atomic force microscopy (AFM) is performed on the as-prepared specimen, with sample preparation requirements similar to those for optical microscopy (OM), rendering three-dimensional representations of the sample surface with vertical resolution of a fraction of a nanometer. In AFM, contrast mechanisms are directly related to surface properties such as topography, adhesion, and stiffness, among others. Chemical etching was performed using 0.5% nital, at time intervals between 4 and 20 s, in 4 s steps, until reaching the desired surface finish. For the present application, an average surface-roughness peak-height below 200 nm was sought. Quantification results of nanometric precipitates were obtained from the statistical analysis of AFM images of the microstructure developed by microalloyed Nb and V-Mo steels. Topography and phase contrast AFM images were used for quantification. The results obtained using AFM are consistent with similar TEM reports. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We quantified nanometric precipitates in Nb and V-Mo microalloyed steels using AFM. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Microstructures of the thermo-mechanically treated microalloyed steels were used. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Topography and phase contrast AFM images were used for quantification. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer AFM results are comparable with traditionally obtained TEM measurements.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Secondary Electron Emission from Plasma Processed Accelerating Cavity Grade Niobium

Advances in the particle accelerator technology have enabled numerous fundamental discoveries in 20th century physics. Extensive interdisciplinary research has always supported further development of accelerator technology in efforts of reaching each new energy frontier. Accelerating cavities, which are used to transfer energy to accelerated charged particles, have been one of the main focuses of research and development in the particle accelerator field. Over the last fifty years, in the race to break energy barriers, there has been constant improvement of the maximum stable accelerating field achieved in accelerating cavities. Every increase in the maximum attainable accelerating fields allowed for higher energy upgrades of existing accelerators and more compact designs of new accelerators. Each new and improved technology was faced with ever emerging limiting factors. With the standard high accelerating gradients of more than 25 MV/m, free electrons inside the cavities get accelerated by the field, gaining enough energy to produce more electrons in their interactions with the walls of the cavity. The electron production is exponential and the electron energy transfer to the walls of a cavity can trigger detrimental processes, limiting the performance of the cavity. The root cause of the free electron number gain is a phenomenon called Secondary Electron Emission (SEE). Even though the phenomenon has been known and studied over a century, there are still no effective means of controlling it. The ratio between the electrons emitted from the surface and the impacting electrons is defined as the Secondary Electron Yield (SEY). A SEY ratio larger than 1 designates an increase in the total number of electrons. In the design of accelerator cavities, the goal is to reduce the SEY to be as low as possible using any form of surface manipulation. In this dissertation, an experimental setup was developed and used to study the SEY of various sample surfaces that were treated by different techniques. Specifically, this work provides the results of SEY from the plasma cleaned cavity grade niobium (Nb) samples. Pure niobium is currently the material of choice for the fabrication of Superconducting Radio Frequency (SRF) cavities. The effect of plasma processing with two different gases will be examined in two groups of samples. The first group of samples is made from cavity grade niobium. The second group of samples is made from the same material, but include a welded joint made by electron beam welding, since in niobium SRF cavities the peak electric and magnetic field are seen in close proximity to the welded joints. Both groups of samples will be exposed to nitrogen (N2) and a mixture of argon with oxygen (Ar/O2) plasma. It is the goal of this research to determine the SEY on these two groups of samples before and after plasma processing as a function of the energy of primary electrons. The SEY as a function of the angle of incidence of the primary electrons is tested on the samples treated with Ar/O2 plasma.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2014

An experimental set-up to apply polarization modulation to infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy for improved in situ studies of atmospheric corrosion processes

A new set-up for improved monitoring of atmospheric corrosion processes in situ and in real-time is presented. To characterize chemical structures of thin films on metal surfaces surface sensitive analytical techniques are required. One possible technique is Infrared Reflection Absorption Spectroscopy (IRRAS) which has become an established method to investigate surface corrosion films of thicknesses less than 200 nm. However, there are limitations related to the sensitivity of these measurements, in case of investigating ultrathin films or absorption bands of interest, surface species are superimposed by atmospheric background absorption, which changes during in situ measurements in ambient atmospheres. These difficulties of in situ surface reflection measurements can be eliminated by availing the polarization selectivity of adsorbed surface species. At grazing angles of incidence the absorption of p-polarized infrared radiation by thin surface films on metals is enhanced, while the absorption of s-polarized light by this film is nearly zero. This different behavior of the polarization properties leads to strong selection rules at the surface and can therefore be used to identify molecules adsorbed on metal surfaces. Polarization Modulation (PM) of the infrared (IR) light takes advantage of this disparity of polarization on sample surfaces and in combination with IRRAS yielding a very sensitive and surface-selective method for obtaining IR spectra of ultra-thin films on metal surfaces. An already existing in situ IRRAS/Quartz Crystal Microbalance weathering cell was combined with PM and evaluated according to its applicability to study in situ atmospheric corrosion processes. First real-time measurements on silver samples exposed to different atmospheres were performed showing the advantage of PM-IRRAS compared to conventional IRRAS for such investigations.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
NASA NTRS2002

Simulations of Ground and Space-Based Oxygen Atom Experiments

Fast, pulsed atomic oxygen sources are a key tool in ground-based investigations of spacecraft contamination and surface erosion effects. These technically challenging ground-based studies provide a before and after picture of materials under low-earth-orbit (LEO) conditions. It would be of great interest to track in real time the pulsed flux from the source to the surface sample target and beyond in order to characterize the population of atoms and molecules that actually impact the surface and those that make it downstream to any coincident detectors. We have performed simulations in order to provide such detailed descriptions of these ground-based measurements and to provide an assessment of their correspondence to the actual LEO environment. Where possible we also make comparisons to measured fluxes and erosion yields. To perform the calculations we use a detailed description of a measurement beam and surface geometry based on the W, pulsed apparatus at Montana State University. In this system, a short pulse (on the order of 10 microseconds) of an O/O2 beam impacts a flat sample about 40 cm downstream and slightly displaced &om the beam s central axis. Past this target, at the end of the beam axis is a quadrupole mass spectrometer that measures the relative in situ flux of 0102 to give an overall normalized erosion yield. In our simulations we use the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method, and track individual atoms within the atomic oxygen pulse. DSMC techniques are typically used to model rarefied (few collision) gas-flows which occur at altitudes above approximately 110 kilometers. These techniques are well suited for the conditions here, and multi-collision effects that can only be treated by this or a similar technique are included. This simulation includes collisions with the surface and among gas atoms that have scattered from the surface. The simulation also includes descriptions of the velocity spread and spatial profiles of the O/O2 beam obtained from separate measurements. These computations use basic engineering models for the gas-gas and gas-surface scattering and focus on the influence of multi-collision effects. These simulations characterize many important quantities of interest including the actual flux of atoms that reach the surface, the energy distribution of this flux, as well as the direction of the velocity of the flux that strikes the surface. These quantities are important in characterizing the conditions which give rise to measured surface erosion. The calculations also yield time- snapshots of the pulse as it impacts and flows around the surface. These snapshots reveal the local environment of gas near the surface for the duration of the pulse. We are also able to compute the flux of molecules that travel downstream and reach the spectrometer, and we characterize their velocity distribution. The number of atoms that reach the spectrometer can in fact be influenced by the presence of the surface due to gas-gas collisions from atoms scattered h m the surface, and it will generally be less than that with the surface absent. This amounts to an overall normalization factor in computing erosion yields. We discuss these quantities and their relationship to the gas-surf$ce interaction parameters. We have also performed similar calculations corresponding to conditions (number densities, temperatures, and velocities) of low-earth orbit. The steady-state nature and lower overall flux of the actual space environment give rise to differences in the nature of the gas-impacts on the surface from those of the ground-based measurements using a pulsed source.

Minton, T. K.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Spatial and temporal metagenomics of river compartments reveals viral community dynamics in an urban impacted stream

Although river ecosystems constitute a small fraction of Earth’s total area, they are critical modulators of microbially and virally orchestrated global biogeochemical cycles. However, most studies either use data that is not spatially resolved or is collected at timepoints that do not reflect the short life cycles of microorganisms. To address this gap, we assessed how viral and microbial communities change over a 48-hour period by sampling surface water and pore water compartments of the wastewater-impacted River Erpe in Germany. We sampled every 3 hours resulting in 32 samples for which we obtained metagenomes along with geochemical and metabolite measurements. From our metagenomes, we identified 6,500 viral and 1,033 microbial metagenome assembled genomes (MAGs) and found distinct community membership and abundance associated with each river compartment (e.g., Competibacteraceae in surfacewater and Sulfurimonadaceae in pore water). We show that 17% of our viral MAGs clustered to viruses from other ecosystems like wastewater treatment plants and rivers. Our results also indicated that 70% of the viral community was persistent in surface waters, whereas only 13% were persistent in the pore waters taken from the hyporheic zone. Finally, we predicted linkages between 73 viral genomes and 38 microbial genomes. These putatively linked hosts included members of the Competibacteraceae, which we suggest are potential contributors to river carbon and nitrogen cycling via denitrification and nitrogen fixation. Together, these findings demonstrate that members of the surface water microbiome from this urban river are stable over multiple diurnal cycles. These temporal insights raise important considerations for ecosystem models attempting to constrain dynamics of river biogeochemical cycles.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2015

Measurement of Young's modulus variation with layer pair and interplanar spacing in gold–nickel nanolaminates using nanoindentation and the tapping mode

The features of grain size and interface separation strengthen the mechanical behavior of metallic nanolaminates. In addition, the presence of interlayer lattice strains can lead to a superlattice structure within the nanolaminate. The superlattice affects intrinsic properties of technological interest including electronic, magnetic, and elastic. The complex elastic and plastic behaviors of gold–nickel nanolaminate superlattice coatings as studied using nanoindentation are revisited with the tapping mode of a force microscope. Young's modulus is determined with nanoindentation during the initial elastic unloading after plastic deformation at depths up to one-fifth the coating thickness. The tapping mode provides a measurement during the initial elastic deformation at depths of only a few nanometers. The tapping mode utilizes the shift in the resonant frequency of the probe-cantilever system as contact is made with the sample surface. Both of these nanoprobe test methods produce results for measurements conducted with loading normal to the surface plane. A softening in the Young's modulus of gold–nickel nanolaminate coatings occurs for samples with layer pair spacing between 1 and 9 nm. The magnitude of softening corresponds with a progressive increase in the tensile state as measured with the change of interplanar spacing along the growth direction.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2011

Surface Studies of HSLA Steel after Electrochemical Corrosion in Supercritical CO2-H2O Environment

In aqueous phase saturated with CO2, X-65 sample underwent general corrosion with formation of FeCO3. In supercritical CO2 containing water phase, two major regions are present on the sample surface after the EIS experiment. One region covered with corrosion products identified as FeCO3 and the other containing Fe, oxygen, and carbon-rich islands embedded in metal matrix identified as {alpha}-Fe. Precipitation of FeCO3 from Fe2+ and CO3 2- is responsible for formation of passive layer in oxygen-deficient, CO2 rich aqueous environment. Mechanisms of corrosion degradation occurring in supercritical CO2 as a function. Transport of supercritical CO{sub 2} is a critical element for carbon capture from fossil fuel power plants and underground sequestration. Although acceptable levels of water in supercritical CO{sub 2} (up to {approx} 5 x 10{sup -4}g/dm{sup 3}) have been established, their effects on the corrosion resistance of pipeline steels are not fully known. Moreover, the presence of SO{sub 2}, O{sub 2} impurities in addition to the water can make the fluid more corrosive and, therefore, more detrimental to service materials. Also, in this case, limited data are available on materials performance of carbon steels. to advance this knowledge, other service alloys are being investigated in the high pressure high temperature cell containing impure CO{sub 2} fluids using reliable non-destructive in-situ electrochemical methods. The electrochemical results are being augmented by a number of surface analyses of the corroded surfaces.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Effect of the femtosecond laser treatment of hydrogenated amorphous silicon films on their structural, optical, and photoelectric properties

The effect of the femtosecond laser treatment of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) films on their structural, optical, and photoelectric properties is studied. Under the experimental conditions applied in the study, laser treatment of the film with different radiation intensities induces structural changes that are nonuniform over the film surface. An increase in the radiation intensity yields an increase in the contribution of the nanocrystalline phase to the structure, averaged over the sample surface, as well as an increase in the conductance and photoconductance of the samples. At the same time, for all of the samples, the absorption spectrum obtained by the constant-photocurrent method has a shape typical for those of amorphous silicon. Obtained results indicate the possibility of a-Si:H films photoconductance increase by femtosecond pulse laser treatment.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1996

Epidemiology of Staphylococcus aureus during space flight

Staphylococcus aureus was isolated over 2 years from Space Shuttle mission crewmembers to determine dissemination and retention of bacteria. Samples before and after each mission were from nasal, throat, urine, and feces and from air and surface sampling of the Space Shuttle. DNA fingerprinting of samples by digestion of DNA with SmaI restriction endonuclease followed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis showed S. aureus from each crewmember had a unique fingerprint and usually only one strain was carried by an individual. There was only one instance of transfer between crewmembers. Strains from interior surfaces after flight matched those of crewmembers, suggesting microbial fingerprinting may have forensic application.

Flight Experiment↗
DOE OSTI2020

Surface and bulk characterization of reservoir and cap-rocks: Past, present, and future

Geologic formations provide potentially some of the largest volume capacities for CO 2 storage or sequestration. Potential storage sites can be deep saline aquifers, depleted oil reservoirs, and coal seams, surrounded by sealing layers to prevent CO 2 from leaking. It is therefore critical to understand mechanisms contributing to CO 2 trapping and CO 2 leaks. Both phenomena are governed by reactions at the interfaces of the reservoir and cap-rocks and are controlled by the complex chemistry and pore structures of rocks. Mechanisms at the macroscale are affected by the processes occurring at the nanoscale. This review highlights the necessity of multitechnique, multiscale characterization of rocks and points to the importance of surface analysis and surface science studies. Two shale rocks (seals) from Niobrara and Agardhfjellet formations with complex surface chemistry are used as examples throughout the paper. Typically, evaluation of rocks with x-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, Rock-Eval pyrolysis, gas adsorption, and electron microscopy combined with energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy is conducted to provide valuable information about the bulk mineralogy, elemental composition, pore volume, and adsorbed species on the sample surface. These studies are necessary prior to designing surface sensitive experiments with x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), guiding both sample preparation and sample analysis. XPS has been widely used to study the surface composition of rocks during the investigations of their fine-scale wettability, and the main findings are highlighted here. This paper also reviews the existing literature on ambient-pressure XPS, which provides new opportunities to study in situ chemical alteration due to interactions with CO 2 and offers recommendations for adapting this technique to study rock-fluid interactions, allowing for the identification of fundamental interactions during CO 2 sequestration and guide selection of formation sites for improved storage.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2013

Near-Earth Object Exploration and Marco Polo-R

A major goal for NASA's human spaceflight program is to send astronauts to near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) in the coming decades. Missions to NEAs would undoubtedly provide a great deal of technical and engineering data on spacecraft operations for future human space exploration while conducting in-depth scientific examinations of these primitive objects. However, prior to sending human explorers to NEAs, robotic investigations of these bodies would be required in order to maximize operational efficiency and reduce mission risk. These precursor missions to NEAs would fill crucial strategic knowledge gaps concerning their physical characteristics that are relevant for human exploration of these relatively unknown destinations. Therefore robotic investigations of NEAs, such as ESA's Marco Polo-R sample return mission to 2008 EV5, would allow NASA and its international partners to gain critical operational experience in performing complex tasks (e.g., close proximity operations, surface sample collection, etc.) under microgravity conditions at or near the surface of a potential human destination. This would provide an important synergy between the worldwide Science and Exploration communities, which will be crucial for development of future international deep space exploration architectures and has potential benefits for future exploration of other destinations beyond low-Earth orbit.

Abell, Paul↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA Capture, Containment, and Return System: Bringing Mars Samples to Earth

The Capture, Containment, and Return System (CCRS) project is NASA’s last step in bringing back Mars samples. CCRS will close a decades-long multi-mission and multi-agency effort to bring Mars surface samples back to Earth for scientific studies. CCRS will launch in 2027 on the European Earth Return Orbiter (ERO) spacecraft, which will provide communications relay for the Mars Sample Return ground missions, Perseverance rover and the Sample Retrieval Lander (SRL) (to be launched in 2028). The main mission for CCRS begins when the first-ever orbital planetary capture operation occurs with CCRS catching and securing the Orbiting Sample (OS)in low Mars orbit. From this point, the system will perform additional "firsts": it will autonomously contain the OS with heat-shrink-fit, sterilize the outside surface, and assemble the Earth entry capsule, named Earth Entry System (EES), in orbit around Mars using a gantry mechanism. At approximately 2.8 Lunar distances from Earth, or 3-days from entry into Earth’s atmosphere, CCRS will open its micrometeoroid shield and release the EES on a ballistic trajectory to Earth. The EES is designed to be a fully passive system that will enter the atmosphere and land without parachute at the Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR).

Mars mission, Sample return, Mission design↗
NASA NTRS2017

Aerosol Sampling Experiment on the International Space Station

The International Space Station (ISS) is a unique indoor environment which serves as both home and workplace to the astronaut crew. There is currently no particulate monitoring, although particulate matter requirements exist. An experiment to collect particles in the ISS cabin was conducted recently. Two different aerosol samplers were used for redundancy and to collect particles in two size ranges spanning from 10 nm to hundreds of micrometers. The Active Sampler is a battery operated thermophoretic sampler with an internal pump which draws in air and collects particles directly on a transmission electron microscope grid. This commercial-off-the-shelf device was modified for operation in low gravity. The Passive Sampler has five sampling surfaces which were exposed to air for different durations in order to collect at least one sample with an optimal quantity of particles for microscopy. These samples were returned to Earth for analysis with a variety of techniques to obtain long-term average concentrations and identify particle emission sources. Results are compared with the inventory of ISS aerosols which was created based on sparse data and the literature. The goal of the experiment is to obtain data on indoor aerosols on ISS for future particulate monitor design and development.

Aerosol↗
DOE OSTI2023

Milestone 1.2.14: Surface Characterization of Irradiated Surrogate Non-Native Corrosion Plumes on Aluminum 6061-T6 Specimens

The United States Department of Energy is seeking to evaluate the feasibility of extended dry storage of aluminum-clad spent nuclear fuel (ASNF) in helium-backfilled cannisters. A significant research effort has been devoted to determining the amount of radiation-induced molecular hydrogen generation from corrosion layers that would be present on the fuel assembly surfaces. However, to date, no evidence of radiation-induced changes in the microstructure of the corroded aluminum surfaces have been reported. This report provides surface characterization, in terms of corrosion layer composition and morphology, for aluminum alloy 6061-T6 “plume” samples subjected to one of three potential ASNF drying techniques—“vacuum only”, “vacuum + 4 hours at 100 oC”, and “vacuum + 4 hours at 220 oC”—and gamma irradiated (= 53 MGy) in the presence of helium gas with ~0% added relative humidity. At these high absorbed gamma doses, for the first time ever, radiation-induced circular defects were found on the sample surface, regardless of the drying regime employed. Additionally, large cracks that penetrated through the corrosion layer to expose bare aluminum metal were observed in irradiated “plume” specimens subjected to drying conditions of “vacuum + 4 hours at 220 oC”. The nature and implications of these defects on the extended dry storage of ASNF is unclear, requiring further study.

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEA↗